IT HAPPENED TODAY

JULY 14

1789:

The Bastille — the state prison in Paris — was stormed by the citizens of the city and burned to the ground at the start of the French Revolution.

1858:

Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst (above) was born in Manchester.

1867:

Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel first demonstrated the use of dynamite.

1888:

The first record company, the North American Phonograph Company, was founded in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, by businessman Jesse L Lippincott.

1902:

The Campanile of St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice collapsed during a safety inspection.

1940:

The Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

1946:

Dr Benjamin Spock’s famous baby bible, Baby And Child Care, was published, and became a bestseller. Twenty-eight years later he said he no longer supported his own theories.

1958:

King Faisal II of Iraq was assassinated in a military coup led by General Kassem and a Republic was established.

1959:

Grock (above), described as the ‘greatest clown on earth’, died in Italy.

1967:

Parliament voted to legalise abortion.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:

Turkey commemorated the first anniversary of the quashed military coup that sought to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

BIRTHDAYS: Sue Lawley, TV presenter, (above), 72; Julia Somerville, former newsreader, 71; Bruce Oldfield, fashion designer, 68; Matthew Fox, actor, 52; Nick McCabe, guitarist (the Verve), 47; Howard Webb, football referee, 47, Lee Mead, musical theatre actor, 37.